Years ago some friends got together to jam. With no heat and no water, they gathered at a cabin in the mountains to have a party, drink beer, listen to music and have fun. These parties evolved into a mountain music festival.

Get some kegs and a couple of tents, invite some bands and you have a recipe for good times. That was the beginning of NedFest, now in its 13th year.

"There have always been good musicians in the area. There was that energy, you could feel that something was going to happen, and since then it has really blown up," said "Michigan Mike" Torpie, a Nederland resident and promoter of the event. "Nedfest began with a makeshift stage that we put together with tarps over it and a handful of bands, and it just grew from there."

This year's headliners are Leftover Salmon, the David Grisman Sextet and a group that includes The Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann, Steve Kimock, George Porter Jr. and String Cheese Incident's Kyle Hollingsworth.

"Bill Kreutzmann, for me that's a big deal. Having an original member of the Grateful Dead is a very big deal," said Torpie. "Leftover Salmon is new this year. Everybody in the band has played (the festival) before, but never as Leftover Salmon."

Many others in the festival's lineup are headliners in their own right. Cornmeal, The Motet, Great American Taxi, Whitewater Ramble, Hot Buttered Rum, Split Lip Rayfield and Smooth Money Gesture are sure to keep the festival moving and grooving.

Nederland has great views, kind mountain folk and a treasure trove of talented artists and musicians. The location of Nedfest is not the only thing that sets the festival apart.

"It's a good mix of local Colorado bands, mid-sized touring groups and headliners. It all takes place on one stage. People don't have to run from area to area to catch the band they like. Every band is solid and it is all there on one stage," Torpie said.

Smooth Money Gesture, an example of Nederland talent, kicks off the festival today.

"We just came off tour, where we played a couple of festivals. We are primed and ready to rock," said Doug Diminico, vocalist, guitarist and co-founder of the band.

Of setting the stage for a lineup with such talent, Diminico said, "That is when we are ready and able to shine."

Colorado band The Motet has performed at NedFest every year save for one.

"We love performing there," said keyboardist Joey Porter. "Colorado has the best audience in the country."

Tweeners keep the groove going between the main acts and are another way to feature local talent. Colorado's Jaden Carlson, for instance, is scheduled as a tweener today, and if you have not seen her, you should. Carlson, who has played several festivals this year, is performing with her trio, which includes Jaden, Scott Messersmith and The Motet bassist Garrett Sayers. The 10-year-old Carlson plays a mixture of covers and original material and already has two full-length CDs to her credit.

The festival website, nedfest.com, contains a list of 15 reasons to attend the mountain music festival. It includes the great lineup, inexpensive tickets, camping, art, food, microbrew beer from local breweries and free Indian Peaks Spring Water.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story